A Youtube link (or SoundCloud link) – private or public – is all you need to send your music to the media and music industry pros of your choice that are available on Groover! Find more than 3,000 Youtube channels, playlists, radios, blogs and labels directly in your account.

Here’s how to promote your music on YouTube:

1. Use Youtube Ads to Increase Your Visibility On the Platform

This is the most obvious way to promote music directly on Youtube because ads are ubiquitous on the platform.

Ads on Youtube are super customizable and can be placed in different spots:

• Ads that appear directly on the YouTube home page to shortcut a potential viewer to your YouTube channel
• Ads associated with keywords that appear when a user searches on YouTube (feel free to use a keyword tool to help you out!)
• Ads broadcast before/during/after a video
• Ads visible only on mobile phones

To start creating ads on Youtube, you need to have a YouTube account and create a Google Ads account. If you’ve already done ads on Facebook and Instagram, you’ll notice that the process is similar.

To create your Youtube ad, you have to choose:

• The video you want to boost
• The format of the ad and its location (in a video, in a search, etc.)
• A target audience
• A determined budget that will be linked to the cost per click or per view

Feel free to experiment with different formats for Youtube ads and follow up on them regularly to understand which one works best for promoting your music! Remember, targeting your Youtube ads is key. It’s a powerful tool that can be harnessed by using the resources made available by Google to help users get ads.

2. Get Your Youtube Channel Verified

Verification is a dream on many platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and/or Instagram, but perhaps the platform on which verification has the greatest impact is Youtube. The verification badge needs 100,000 subscribers and adds no extra features. For musicians, what counts is the Official Artist Channel, which provides you with exclusive benefits:

• gives you access to detailed stats
• brings together the subscribers of your Topic channel, your Vevo channel and your own channel
• allows you to promote your merch and tours directly under your Youtube videos

To get one, you need at least one official release on YouTube delivered by a distributor or label, and they make the request for you.

3. Make Music Videos and Clips that Illustrate Your Music

On an artist’s YouTube channel, you’d expect to find visuals for their music, so make sure you have visual content that is engaging enough to keep viewers watching, even if they don’t know the song. Including the song title in the video is crucial for better SEO on video sharing platforms like YouTube, and will allow any intrigued listeners to move over to a streaming platform to add your song to their music library.

On YouTube, clips are king, so we advise you to upload as consistently as possible! Image is inseparable from music, especially on YouTube, which remains a platform for music and entertainment. In addition, short clips are the perfect material to promote with for Youtube Ads. You can also put your clips on Vevo through a partner distributor, and our Vevo vs YouTube comparison explains what it adds to a regular channel.

4. Offer a Variety of Content On Your Channel

As an artist, your YouTube channel is mainly used to post and promote your music videos, but there are plenty of other ways to showcase your work on Youtube. Users enjoy learning more about the lives of creators and artists, and this is reflected in the popularity of vlogs on the platform. You can totally – if you have the time and the inclination – offer other video formats on Youtube, be it vlogs, behind the scenes videos, or your musical influences… this will allow you to build a real community around your project. All of this extra content you offer is what contributes to the storytelling that is so important in increasing the visibility of your music.

You can also create curated playlists for your fans to listen to. This is a great way for your fanbase to get to know you and listen to your music, as well as music you like. This is a key promotional tool for any independent artist to gain listeners and subscribers.

5. Use Keywords

The title of the YouTube video is crucial because it must allow you to get as much out of the search as possible and grab a user’s attention. Don’t forget to write a suitable description and add relevant tags to each of your videos; including keywords in the video description is essential to improve visibility and increase views, as it can help a user find the video without knowing the title.

Keep the title short and straight to the point for your live videos and music videos, such as your song name and artist name. For your other videos, you can analyze what is working the most at the moment on YouTube and adapt the content, title, and description with potentially trending keywords in the tags (as long as they are relevant). Youtube Autocomplete and Google Trends are good tools to find the keywords searched by language and country and to know the associated trends. Keywords are only one part of how YouTube recommends videos, and our guide on getting your music discovered on YouTube explains how the algorithm also weighs viewer engagement.

For example, you can find YouTube searches for “jazz piano” worldwide over the last 30 days. You will also find related searches and where those terms are searched, and you can also compare with similar terms to see which ones are most searched:

6. Create Intriguing Thumbnails

Now that your video is visible on the platform, you want as many users as possible to click on it. The thumbnail should attract attention and make people want to know more. In general, colorful images are what catch the eye, but the picture quality is most important. If it is blurry or poorly framed, it suggests that the video is also poor quality. We therefore advise you to remember to take pictures/stills when you record a video for your channel to ensure a good result. You can also do simple edits using apps like Canva.

7. Create a Connection With Your Audience

Listening and building relationships with subscribers is super important in order to increase your YouTube subscriber count and showcase your music online. We advise you to like and respond to certain comments on your posts to create a dialogue with your audience and be engaged. The YouTube Studio App allows you to manage your profile, easily create playlists and reply to comments directly on a mobile!

Youtube Studio : Perfect for music promotion

You can also make community posts that allow you to tease future videos, talk about new updates you may have and stay in touch with your new fans. These posts can be plain text, or contain images, videos, GIFs, Youtube playlists, or even a poll.

8. Collaborate With Other Artists and Creators

YouTube is full of talented creators and artists. A great way to reach more people is to do collabs and combine your fanbases. Whether it’s a purely musical collaboration or something more general with a creator of the platform, all ideas can bring visibility to your Youtube channel and allow you to gain subscribers that may not have seen your content otherwise. Contact the artists and creators who you would like to work with via the email address provided in the ‘About’ tab of their channel or on social networks.

9. Boost Your Other Platforms With Youtube

With YouTube, you can also boost the visibility of your other platforms! Every video you post is a showcase for your music and the description allows you to talk about your other channels. Feel free to place a cross-platform link in your bio and at the end of the descriptions under your videos to direct viewers to your other socials where they can find more content.

To promote a future release or clip, you can simply post teasers and invite users to follow you on Spotify or YouTube Music, for example, to find all your songs as soon as they are released.

10. Place Your Video on Popular YouTube Channels

Getting your music video a placement on a popular YouTube channel is a great way to spread the word about your latest track and redirect people to your personal YouTube channel. There are many channels that offer this in all musical styles, and some curators even offer to post the songs with animations or to post the lyrics. Some placements are paid and others are not, so don’t hesitate to ask the channel manager via their email, often indicated in the “about” tab.

You can also submit your music to YouTube channels directly on Groover! It’s affordable, really effective in gaining visibility, and you are assured to have a response in under 7 days from a music business pro. Most importantly, you’re guaranteed to get your music heard! Find the list of contacts available on Groover, with a selection of more than 3,000 channels, playlists, radio stations, media, record labels,…all available to you in your account.

– Translated by Betty Gonzalez Gray – 

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Next Articles :

> How to attract a community on Youtube?
> How does the Youtube algorithm work?

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Send your music to the channels and other industry pros of your choice directly on Groover now!

L’article How To Promote Your Music on YouTube: 10 Effective Tips est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

If there is a search engine that, for the last 10 years has become a reference in terms of discovery of emerging artists, artistic showcase for professional singers, musicians, and music videos, it’s Youtube. More than a simple website, Youtube is an opportunity for any artist, beginner or confirmed, to establish its reputation, its brand image and its credibility. Not to mention the countless number of artists who had their first successes as a Youtuber, and who today are known in their country, or even internationally. But the question remains: how to gain views on their music videos? Go on YouTube and let’s get started!

1. How does the YouTube algorithm work?

1.1 How are views counted on Youtube ?

A viewer goes on Youtube, lands on your channel page, clicks on one of your videos, and watches it for at least 30 seconds. Here is the exact path that a user goes through to gain views on Youtube. Gaining viewership on your music videos requires a great mastery of music marketing to increase the click-through rate (the number of people to click on your video out of the total number of people who see the thumbnail). Working on stand-out video thumbnails and catchy titles is therefore, essential.

Many artists will say that “view and subscriber counts don’t mean anything”. They’re right, it doesn’t mean EVERYTHING. But the view count on Youtube, as well as the number of subscribers on Youtube are important. They bring legitimacy to the artist. This is proof that what they do appeals to people and is interesting to watch. So, make sure to include a call-to-action and encourage people to subscribe. But the views on Youtube will above all, inform the Youtube algorithm of the good video quality! This is a very good thing, let me explain why. The goal of Youtube, it is to make people stay as long as possible on the Youtube platform. So if the algorithm considers that your work is liked and makes people stay on the platform, it will make your video content visible to more people. In other words, more views lead to more views.

1.2 What is the impact of Youtube likes, comments, followers, and shares?

When talking about making your Youtube videos stand out, we can’t only talk about increasing your views (or click-through rate) with an eye-catching title and thumbnail. There are other equally important factors that can have a considerable effect on the reputation of an artist’s videos and their youtube channel.

First of all, the retention rate (or watch time) is key in YouTube marketing. This is the time that users spend on average in front of your video on YouTube. This is an indicator that carries a lot of weight in the algorithm. Logically, this shows the effectiveness to keep its users as long as possible on Youtube.

It is also important to try to maximize all forms of “reactions” to your videos, namely likes, comments and shares. First of all because engagement pleases the Youtube algorithm, but also because engagement encourages engagement. When choosing between a full and an empty restaurant you will tend to go to the one that the most amount of people are in without even looking at the menu. It’s the same thing if you’re hesitating between watching a video with 200 views and one with 2-million views.

Incentivizing shares (directly or indirectly) also has a strong impact on your overall visibility on the Youtube app. Because, when someone shares your video on their Instagram account, all their followers know about it. So it’s an interesting leveraging tool.

| Also read: How to use Instagram stories to promote your music

In terms of the subscriber count (the number of people subscribed to you) on Youtube, it is more complex. Because a channel with a lot of subscribers will not necessarily be more highlighted than a small channel. Because a high subscriber count does not always mean high engagement rates, these subscribers will not necessarily watch new videos. Therefore, the algorithm won’t feed this to new or existing users. A perfect example of how not pleasing the Youtube algorithm could penalize you.

The Youtube algorithm can be both rewarding and penalizing depending on certain characteristics of your channel and your videos. In summary: aim for quantity, without forgetting about quality!

1.3 How are Youtube trends created?

We’ve spoken a lot about the promotion of videos on Youtube, but how does the platform actually do it? How do you go viral? What are the possibilities that the platform has at its disposal to ensure that a video is seen by a large number of people? Well, here they are:

First of all, there are what we call “suggestions“. When you click on a Youtube video, to the right of it, you have a list of video suggestions from Youtube. It’s like Spotify or Netflix, it gives your video guaranteed visibility if it ends up in this area. The Youtube homepage is also a high visibility area. The chances of a user clicking on your video are effectively increased tenfold because it’s one of the first videos the user will see on the platform. And finally, there is the “Explore” tab. The tab where you will find the “music” section, includes a classification and many Youtube playlists with different categories: future hits, latino, etc. (just like Spotify).

Now, how do you get on the Explore page on Youtube? What about the Home page on Youtube? It’s simple, by increasing the number of likes, views, comments, subscribers, etc. So it comes down to how to get more views on your videos; let’s see how one does this ….

2. How to gain views on your music videos?

Let’s start with the external ways to increase the number of views on Youtube; where the sole purpose is to redirect users to Youtube.

2.1 Medias

The first source of external traffic that an artist can use is the media. Radio, television or newspapers are channels not to be neglected when promoting your music, and especially your Youtube channel. Speaking of media, the Groover platform is the perfect tool to contact journalists, media, Youtube channels and other music industry professionals who might be interested in talking about your project.

2.2 Social Media (Especially Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit)

Second source of external traffic, social media. As you know, Youtube is quite different in comparison to other social media platforms(Instagram, Facebook or TikTok) because of the perishability of its content. Getting 200 views on your Youtube video in one month doesn’t mean you won’t make 20,000 views the following month. This is not necessarily the case for Instagram, for example. If you want to have a better chance of being featured by Youtube, gain the most amount of views in the first moments of publishing your new video! Once again, because it shows the algorithm the high potential of your video.

Sharing on your other social media platforms may help you gain this initial push. Essentially, using your existing community (small or large) to gain views on your new videos. Making an Instagram story, post or TikTok that shows the most thrilling part can be interesting, right? Always redirecting your audience with a link is super powerful.

| Also read: How to attract and create a community of Youtube?

2.3 Organic search engine optimization on Google: SEO and website

After talking about advertising (paid traffic) to promote videos on Youtube, let’s now talk about SEO. SEO is a key tool to bring traffic organically on your content. It is a matter of asking the following question: How to optimize music videos on YouTube?

Carefully crafting the title and description of your video is essential. I also invite you, under the description, to add important keywords, adwords and hashtags that the audience may be looking for. This is key for the Youtube SEO!

Don’t forget one important thing: a Youtube video can also be referenced on Google! Optimizing your videos and overall YouTube account is key (don’t forget your Google account too!). The Tubebuddy extension or Answer the public website are ideal tools to know the most searched keywords on Youtube and Google. Use a keyword tool to improve your search results.

With Youtube for Artists, you can take a deeper dive into Youtube analytics and discover more about your audience and overall performance. There is also Youtube help and tutorials that will help you and your channel to be as optimized as possible.

| Get your music known on Youtube, thanks to Youtube for Artists

3. Why is visibility on Youtube important?

I invite you to put all these tactics into practice today for a good reason: they are valuable. Making thousands or tens of thousands of views on Youtube is not only about satisfying your ego as an artist. Many other benefits await for you. First of all, you will prove your legitimacy as an artist to the general public, just like the restaurant. You will not be able to become a reference in this industry without using Youtube. Moreover, you can use your Youtube channel as a showcase. What better way to convince a music label or producer to trust you than a growing Youtube channel!

Getting a lot of views on Youtube is also a good opportunity to progress artistically! Why? Because you can easily turn your videos into a goldmine of feedback. Youtube is like a showroom, on stage 24 hours a day, and where people come and go continuously. Imagine the progress you could have if you leave a “tell me what you think” on the door of your gigs!

Don’t hesitate to use the Groover platform to get quick and easy feedback from hundreds of qualified music professionals.

4. How to find ideas for YouTube videos ?

4.1 Do you need a big budget to create good quality videos ?

When an artist wants to make a music video, the first obstacle they will have to face is deciding how much to invest to create this piece of content. A good director, competent cameramen, but also a nice location, a dozen extras or special effects specialists … all of this is expensive.

That being said, as an emerging artist, there are simple ways to drastically reduce your expenses for your next video. First of all, as far as framing and editing is concerned, I can invite you to go to audiovisual schools. Knowing that many students can or must do professional internships during their studies, you understand that by offering students to collaborate, it’s a win-win situation. You shoot your video for free because the internship is unpaid and the student has the opportunity to rent professional equipment for free at his school, and he has a professional experience to add to his CV (nowadays, recruiters give a lot of importance to this, and take less and less students who leave school without professional experience). This tip is a real nugget! It has worked for almost all the artists I have coached with LYD’R Coaching. Don’t underestimate this possibility.

| Check out: 9 Tips for small budget music video productions

That being said, as an emerging artist, there are simple ways to drastically reduce your expenses for your next music video. First of all, as far as framing and editing is concerned, I invite you to go to audiovisual schools. Knowing that many students can or must do professional internships during their studies, you understand that by offering students to collaborate, it’s a win-win situation. You shoot your music video for free because the internship is unpaid and the student has the opportunity to rent professional equipment for free at their school, and they have professional experience to add to their CV (nowadays, recruiters give a lot of importance to this, and take fewer students who leave school without professional experience). This tip is a real hidden gem! It has worked for almost all the artists I have coached with LYD’R Coaching. Don’t underestimate this possibility.

Finally, you can also plan to shoot several music videos at the same time in the same location. How about renting a restaurant? Shoot a first scene in the main room, a second one at the bar, and then a third one in the kitchen!

4.2 How and where does one find ideas for music videos?

When it comes to video design, many artists spend a lot of time and effort comming up with an idea for a buzzworthy video. You want your video to be out of the ordinary, I can understand that. But is the virality of a video clip necessarily proportional to the complexity of the basic idea? I don’t think so. Nobody will tell me that Christine and the Queens’ videos don’t work. However, any artist starting out has the budget to make the same.

If however, you are really short of video ideas and even after 2 days spent on Youtube looking for inspiration you still have nothing, do one simple and effective thing: a lyrics video. Filmora is a good tool to make a quality animated clip, with your lyrics scrolling. You can also add a passage where we see a video of you singing. It’s very easy to do and believe me, it’s much better than a simple still cover image.

Conclusion

To sum up, if there was one question you could ask yourself today to move forward, it would be this: how can I make my next content on Youtube make people stay on Youtube longer than my competitors? Find the answer and in 2 years you will be on top, I guarantee it. Gaining views on your clips is accessible to everyone!

No matter the discipline, no matter the project, the logic will always remain the same: offer quality, offer value to the people around you, and you will be rewarded.

Now it’s up to you. Be consistent, and enjoy what you do…

-Translated by Betty Gonzalez Gray-

You want to contact media and Youtube channels? Send them your music via Groover – guaranteed listening and feedback in less than 7 days!

L’article How does the Youtube algorithm work? Gain visibility with your music videos est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.